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LOT 1538
Large Luristan Bronze Tanged Spearhead
BRONZE AGE, 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.
14 1/2 in. (512 grams, 37 cm).
Leaf-shaped blade with prominent midrib extending to a square-section tang.
ProvenanceFrom a UK collection formed in the 1980s.
Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.
Cf. Muscarella, O.W., Bronze and Iron, ancient Near Eastern Artifacts in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1988, no.176, for the type.
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AUCTIONS:
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LOT 1538
Large Luristan Bronze Tanged Spearhead
Estimate £150 - 200€170 - 230 (for guidance only)$200 - 270 (for guidance only)
Opening Bid
£50 (EUR 58; USD 68) +BP*
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Turco-Mongol 'Greek Fire' Ceramic Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade
9th-11th century A.D.Estimate: £80 - 100 (+bp*)
Bids: 1 | Current Bid: £5
Piriform body with stepped neck, stamped leaf and linear decoration on the body; intended to be filled with explosive liquid and a wick, and used as a hand grenade. 493 grams, 17.2 cm
From an important specialist collection, London, UK, 1990s. Accompanied by an academic paper by military specialist Dr Raffaele D'Amato, dated 15 July 2019 and titled 'Eastern Roman Empire - Greek Fire Bomb or Hand Grenade (μεσαίον kακάβιον) 9th-11th century AD'.
Apart from the use of siphons or manual flame-throwers called cheirosiphona, special corps of Roman soldiers employed terracotta grenades, in the form of small jars, abundantly evidenced in archaeological excavations. They were called μεσαία kακαβιά or κυτροκακάβια, where the former had a bulbous shape and the latter a more cylindrical form. -
Large Luristan Bronze Adze
Bronze Age, 2nd-1st millennium B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Short tubular socket with raised ribs, perpendicular rectangular-section blade with convex cutting edge. 462 grams, 16.5 cm
From a UK collection formed in the 1980s. Property of an Essex, UK, gentleman.
Unadorned weapons, especially axes, adzes, and picks, were made by Luristan craftsmen using simple clay or stone bivalve moulds, into which a core was inserted to form the socket for the shaft. Typically, the metallic composition consisted of a combination of arsenical bronze and copper, together with a small percentage of lead. -
Luristan Bronze Tanged Spearhead
12th-11th century B.C.Estimate: £100 - 140 (+bp*)
Opening Bid: £50
Leaf-shaped blade with a wide midrib extending towards the flaring shaft, a rectangular-section tang with bent finial. 319 grams, 35.6 cm
Ex Abelita collection, 1990s.
